Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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MANHATTAN TRANSFER

Vocal quartet treating popular music as repertory music, with four-part harmony treatments of material from '20s onwards, including the Swing Era, doo-wop, etc. They were formed '69 as a good-time jug-band sort of group; by '72 the lineup include Tim Hauser (b 12 December 1941, Troy NY; d 16 October 2014, Sayre PA), plus Alan Paul (b c.1949), Janis Siegel (b c.1953) and Laurel Masse (b c.1954). All were experienced; Hauser had been working in groups (since '58 and Siegel had been a member of the Young Generation, a group groomed by Leiber and Stoller which didn't go very far. MT did what they did very well, becoming popular in cabaret with a wide audience, perhaps anticipating a time when musicians and singers will once again borrow more freely from their musical roots (those at any rate who know that they have roots); they kept on doing it, moved on to more modern material and their jazz vocalizings just kept getting better, following on from Lambert, Hendricks & Ross and others.

Jukin' came out on Capitol '75 (recorded earlier) with Gene Pistilli in the lineup (he co-wrote hit 'Sunday Will Never Be The Same', a top ten hit for Spanky and Our Gang '67). The lineup as above began on Atlantic with The Manhattan Transfer '75; after Comin' Out and Pastiche '76-8 Masse left, replaced by Cheryl Bentyne; Extensions '79 was followed by Mecca For Moderns '81 (no. 22 LP including a no. 7 single 'Boy From New York City'), Bodies And Souls '83, Mn-Tora! '83 (live in Tokyo), Bop Doo-wopp and Vocalese '85 (featuring Jon Hendricks's lyrics); Live '87 was essentially a live version of Vocalese, backing group of Don Roberts on reeds, Wayne Johnson on guitars, Yaron Gershovsky on keyboards, Alex Blake on basses, Buddy Williams, drums. Brasil '87 included Stan Getz, David Sanborn, Milton Nascimento; The Offbeat Of Avenues '91 was on Columbia, as was a Christmas album; Tonin' '95 was back on Atlantic, with Bette Milder, Smokey Robinson, Phil Collins, Frankie Valli, Laura Nyro, many others; Swing on Atlantic released '97 with many guests was one of their all-time best. Compilations included Very Best Of (charted '95) and two-CD Down In Birdland, both on Rhino. Siegel did a solo album Experiment In White '82. At the end Hauser was the only remaining original member.